Have you ever noticed that babies make adults go goofy? I love the first photo dearly and hope that my mom and dad in law aren’t upset by the pic – it’s awesome! I was holding Amelia and they were just talking with her. I had the camera in my hand so I just had to capture this candid moment!

The second photo started as a Maddie sandwich. She was a bit cranky so Sam and I smooshed her to try and get a smile. We then added one person at a time for a series of photos, but I will simply share the first and the last photo. Now that’s a good lookin’ group!

All of Maddie’s and Amelia’s cousins sat for the fourth photo. There will be one more come March when Aunt Kim and Uncle Larry have their baby boy!

And the last two photos are the grandmas with Amelia… she captures hearts!

Miss Amelia is getting stronger and stronger by the minute it seems. Way back when (like five days ago) Amelia would sit ever so quietly on your lap. She has now figured out that she can move around a bit. I suspected this was coming because when I find her in the cot after a night’s sleep, she has been turned around at least 90 degrees. All from squirming too! She now sits on lap for about, oh, four seconds before she straightens her back like a board and pushes off with her feet. It’s worth a few giggles!

One reason she is getting stronger is because of the tummy time and the flying time. She’s flies quite well in dad’s hand and holds her head up just like a hero. She also thinks that tummy time is pretty cool when she has something to gaze upon. While my mom was here with Bear the dog, Amelia kept her eye on him at all times!!

Merry Christmas Little Ones! The girls enjoyed snow for Christmas…. a 1% chance to have snow in Portland on Christmas day and look what happens for them! Snow at last… Christmas at last…

This is the first year we’ve made cookies for Santa, I don’t know why we haven’t done it before… perhaps it’s because this is the first year that we’ve been home and Maddie really gets it! Dad and Maddie baked them together while I sat recording the momentous occasion. We had conversations the entire time about what Santa would want to drink with his chocolate chip cookies.

Watch the clip to find our all of our thoughts!!

Grandma Barbara had the ENTIRE family over for a pre-Christmas Day party. It was absolutely perfect having the whole family under one roof. It’s such a rare event and it was just downright fun. I keep having deja vu because Maddie was Amelia’s age during her first Christmas. She sat in the same car seat in the same room, sleeping just the same way with the hustle and bustle all around her. I’ll have to dig that picture up when I return to Shanghai! It was a wonderful night!

Connor and Sam came over to the house and we spent the time reading and watching Christmas classics. Amelia is completely mesmerized by Sam as he can be very entertaining! Between Amelia holdings though, Sam took the time to read Maddie Anna book or two. This one was priceless as they stumbled through Frost the Snowman. Every time I read the book I can’t help but sing it, but they both took this reading bit very seriously!!!

You can barely hear Maddie’s little voice speaking with Sammy’s in this little clip. I’m in awe by how fast kids change… Maddie is four – FOUR! How did this happen?!

When you come home for the holidays and you have a little girl, it’s almost a necessity to go see The Nutcracker! Maddie is such a ballerina girl as I’m pretty sure that she dreams of spinning on her toes in her dreams. This day was exceptional all around because it was “girls day out” all for the sake of ballet. Grandma Dotty, Grandma Barbara, Aunt Susan and Elena joined us for a lunch on the river before heading to see The Nutcraker. Maddie was so excited to give the purple crystal necklace to Elena for the event… she had been holding onto it for weeks in Shanghai!

I was so impressed with how Maddie was acting during the entire performance. I thought for sure that she may lose interest, but she was engaged and tried to follow the story most of the time. If you ask her what her favorite was she’ll say the one with the pink tutu – surprising, isn’t it? Thanks for a great time at the ballet girls!!!

I can understand those people out there that but artificial trees… really! We have one in Shanghai and every year around the day after Thanksgiving, we open up the closet and find the tall brown box that contains the start of our Christmas cheer. HOWEVER, we do this because finding a real tree in Shanghai is not that easy and that actually makes finding a tree in Saudi Arabia look like a cake walk! So when we come home to Oregon for the holidays – we cut down a tree… especially since we are in our own home for the first time!

Amelia sat in the warmth of the backseat with Grandma Barbara, continuing to jetlag her little heart out while we went trapsing through a tree farm. Barbara watched the whole thing from the car which was apparently the best silent movie in a long time. I found a tree while Grandpa/Maddie went one direction and Andy went the other. She summed it up best though in her blog entry about our Christmas Tree Hunt!

Dad was even nice enough to poke fun at us girls as he cut down the Christmas tree!

The school had a get together at the Glamour Bar… I skipped the all school party last week so I couldn’t skip this one so we brought Amelia with us. It was quite posh as it’s talked about in all of the travel books. Go to the Glamour Bar if you ever come to Shanghai… it’s just one of those things you have to do. The school rented it out for about three hours so it was just the “small” SAS gang. Amelia was brilliant and chatted her way through the crowds. It’s a good thing that she doesn’t mind being passed around to lots and lots of people! She’s so easy going… the pics are of how her night went! Happy Holidays all! One more sleep before the long journey across the ocean!

The last full day of school meant that all of the holiday makings were sent home! Maddie made a gingerbread house this week AND gingerbread cookies at school. She was so proud to bring them home and show me, but she couldn’t hold off long enough

to show dad because she had to eat it. The marshmallow tower was just too tempting! We got our first school ornament this year with Maddie’s picture in it surrounded by colored pasta. These are priceless as they are always fun to get out when the kids are 18 and beyond! I think we’ll take this one home in a few days to put on our “America tree” as Maddie says! Two more sleeps Maddie Anna!!!

We keep getting notes home from the librarian…. Maddie can’t check out anymore books because she has so many checked out. Okay, they don’t say that she can’t check out books – that would be just plain mean. The issue is this: Maddie LOVES to read and never wants to return any of her library books. I have to sneak them in her bag and the Ms. Preeti has to sneak them out of her bag without Maddie finding out about it. She has her favorite books of course… most of them are related to ballet in some way shape or form. She LOVES Brown Bear, Brown Bear too though. Happy Reading/Singing honey!!!

I can’t believe that kind of weather we’ve been having in Shanghai lately. Our first year here was rain, rain, a bit more rain and finally a little rain thrown in for good measure! Lately, the skies have been blue so we decided to take advantage of this and head down to Dong Tai Lu for some shopping and site-seeing. I’m amazed at the progress they have made on the world’s tallest building (at least for 5 minutes). We captured this photo from the car with the sunroof open. The sun is hitting the Jin Mao in the background which I think is kind of cool!

We then made our way over the Dong Tai Lu to browse the real fake antiques! It’s fun to head down there to practice my Chinese. I know my numbers, I know how to say “too expensive”, I know how to walk away with a smile on my face! I captured this great photo with old Shanghai meeting new Shanghai. The laundry is hanging outside of the old apartment while our Jeff and Daneah’s apartment is in the background on the top floor of the newer building. Even Maddie recognizes the waves on top of Jeff and Daneah’s apartment!

Maddie had to touch everything on this table and all of the others. I think it drove some shop owners slightly nuts, but most tried to sell her something. For the longest time, she has wanted a metal cricket cage, but they are trying to charge and 120rmb for something that should cost 20-30rmb. Maddie usually so shy around people she doesn’t know, but ever since Amelia was born Maddie has been getting braver and braver. At the end of our shopping on Dong Tai Lu, one last shop owner was trying to sell her something that she didn’t want and she looked him square in eye and yelled BU YAO because he wouldn’t leave her alone. It was on the verge of being rude, but I was so gobsmacked and so proud of her at the same time – I just couldn’t stop laughing!!! This is turn made her laugh and scream BU YAO down the rest of street! Bu Yao means I don’t want it by the way. Funny… she never says that in English!

This entire week has been about children running around the Links after dark, knocking on doors as loud as they can and then running to hide as fast as they can! There are about 20 kids out at the Links and they were all part of a Secret Santa gift exchange. I keep forgetting (sometimes) that Maddie is four as this is all still very new to her. We had participated in Secret Santa last year, but doesn’t really remember doing so. Maddie first heard the door on Monday night and was ecstatic as she was opening the present… when she realized it was a book she burst into tears because “Santa” didn’t bring her the ballet slippers she wanted! It was then that we had the discussion about the difference between Santa and a Secret Santa. She decided a Secret Santa was like a leprechaun – it worked for her!

Tonight we did the final gift exchange, but before we did so we were entertained a bit during a dinner. Sometimes you just have to pinch yourself and ask, “where am I and how did I get here?”

The young boy on the bicycle juggled and threw plates onto his head while riding a unicycle. I loved the look in his eye when he tossed three bowls at once to the top of his head from his foot… even he was proud! Then there was a young woman who did a dance for this kids where her face changed colors. It’s difficult to describe so look a the clip and watch the color of her face change in the middle of it. I think it changed seven times in all! The girls then came out in their purple outfits with roller skates on where they spun as fast as they could in a very small space.

Girls twirling plates on the top of long sticks and a magician ended the show! Maddie sat in the front row with her mouth wide open the entire time! The gift exchange is what they all were waiting for though. Maddie gave Cleet his basketball and then received a PINK SAS sweatshirt from Cooper! It was a great night had by all… now it’s time to head home for real down home Christmas time! One week and counting!!!!

This week at school Maddie had Santa’s Workshop at school. Neither Andy or I were able to attend with her so we gave her a set amount of money to spend and sent her on her way. Maddie bought presents for Ms. Zhou, mommy, daddy and Amelia. She decided that she wanted us to open the presents as soon as she got home – she must get that from me! She bought me a beautiful necklace, dad a great tie, Ms. Zhou a pretty necklace, and Amelia a cute little Santa Clause! Thanks for the Christmas presents Madeline Anna!!

While Maddie and Ms. Zhou enjoy their Friday night movie ritual, Andy and I go out for date night. I thought for sure that we would put it on hold after Amelia arrived, but this kid likes to be a part of it all! If she’s sitting in your lap, she’s a happy camper. So… dad I continue the date nights (with Amelia in tow) while Maddie continues on with her Ms. Zhou/Maddie bonding time. Life is good!!